So I know this is a bit late but I wanted to at least give my thoughts of this first time event. Milwaukee Firkin Fest is a festival celebrating Milwaukee based breweries, so the total number of booths pouring was around 20 or so. There weren’t actually any firkins though, which perplexed me a bit. Lakefront did have something called stitchvass that was about the closest thing I saw resembling a firkin. The usual suspects were in attendance. The afformentioned Lakefront along with Sprecher, Milwaukee Ale House, and Waterstreet Brewery, and the list goes on. I spent about half of the fest pouring beer for a home brew club I belong to called Beer Buffalo Lodge. This was a great way to interact with the paid attendees. Most everyone I spoke to seemed fairly knowledgeable about craft beer. They would ask about ingredients and how the beers were made. Which I found very refreshing. There were the usual “dudes” that show up to simply pound beers but for the most part it was an intelligent crowd.
Overall it seemed to be a success considering it was the first time holding the event. This purely my opinion and maybe the bottom line would prove otherwise. Only time will tell if they decide to make it an annual event.
-Beerwolf